70 - ATTRIBUTED TO JOSEPH WITHAM (BRITISH, 1831-1912)

ATTRIBUTED TO JOSEPH WITHAM (BRITISH, 1831-1912) The Fernie Brothers steamship 'Virginia' in a swell, circa 1863 Oil on canvas 23½ x 41½in. (59.5 x 105.5cm.) The iron screw steamer Virginia was built by Palmer’s at Jarrow on the Tyne and launched on 18th June 1863. Registered at 2,876 tons gross, she measured 325 feet in length with a 41 foot beam and sported a classic clipper bow to set off her handsome profile. Barque-rigged on three masts with a single funnel, her two inverted engines gave her a cruising speed of 10 knots under steam and she had extensive passenger accommodation. It could be said that she was the first vessel of the newly-established National Line although her actual ownership details are somewhat convoluted in that she was built for Fernie Bros., operated initially by Guion & Co., but seemingly transferred into National Line ownership within the year. On her maiden passage to New York, via Queenstown, she left Liverpool on 4th August 1863 in her Fernie Bros. livery as seen in the portrait offered here. It is therefore reasonable to assume that this work was commissioned to mark her maiden voyage in Fernie’s ownership and before she took on National’s flag. After three return voyages wearing Fernie’s colours, she made her first crossing for National in February 1864 and thereafter maintained a regular schedule out of Liverpool until changing her embarkation port to London in July 1870. Clearly considered too successful a carrier to lose, she was lengthened (to 391 feet) and re-registered (at 4,310 tons gross) in 1872, at which time she was renamed Greece. Back in service with a new straight stem, she returned to Liverpool for two years before resuming London to New York sailings until February 1896, when she was withdrawn as obsolete and scrapped. Scattered retouching in the sea and sky, old relining failing.